The Heart of Saturday Night

Nicholas strolls through the streets of the city in high spirits, whistling Tom Waits' "Drunk on the Moon". The neon lights shine bright on either side of him and people walk to and fro, their conversations, laughter and smiles or the inverse passing across his straightforward vision and panning in and out of his range of hearing. He looks in the various stores and social establishments he passes until he spots an old upright piano in the front window and stops. He looks up at the sign to see what kind of shop it is.

An antique shop? I haven't been in one in years... I've always loved them as a kid. A look inside couldn't hurt. It would be a blessing rather. Let's see what they have...

He enters the shop, looking around as he enters. The shop is quite dim and the voice that wafts out of the dark in greeting nearly causes him to jump out of his skin. Taking a second to breathe and calm his heartrate, he sees it is only the shop owner. Nicholas bows deeply and raises his head.

"Good evening, sir. I saw that piano in the window and I immediately had to cease my evening stroll to take a gander. I am a musician myself and antique instruments fascinate me very much. May I...perhaps....err...play a tune on it, that is if is still operates well?"

The antique owner smiles with his eyebrows raised at the young man's wellbred speech and politeness. He didn't get much young people in here or any people at all really. The owner obliges and Nicholas smiles, bowing once more. He goes to the piano and opens the case gently, revealing its dust covered keys. Blowing the dust off and pulling out the stool, he sits and presses one of the keys. It is horribly out of tune. He frowns and lifts the lid. His perfect pitch offers much to his advantage and with minimal help from the owner, he successfully retunes the piano. Nicholas smiles at the owner.

"She's all better now hopefully. Now, let's see how well she can sing after all these dormant years...."

He takes a seat and stretches his fingers, taking a breath. He lowers his index and one fine crystalline note rings out into the silence. He glances at the owner and nods, grinning widely before turning his attention back to the keys and having his fingertips gracefully finish the mad dance, the notes twinkling like stars and bursting like a million brilliant miniature supernovae, one after another.



He hadn't felt euphoria like this in a long, long time. No....he had never tasted it so finely until now. Yes...this...

This is true happiness in all its beautiful simplicity. This is what it truly feels like.

And this taste resonated with him long after those two minutes of playing had finished, after he had thanked the owner who thanked him ecstatically in return with and welcomed him there any time to play and/or to talk, and even after Nicholas had bowed for the final time, exiting the shop, continuing into the night.

And that was the heart of his Saturday night.

I had come to the city with the intention to stay out all night in the city again.

No classes were in the morning so I didn't have a thing to do but go to church for an hour.

T'was going to be a prestine night tonight.

While passing by an unfamiliar shop on an unfamiliar street in an unfamiliar neighborhood I hear the sound of music being played on a piano.

Pretty damn good music being played.

I mumble to myself so nobody hears me. A personal habit.

"'s tha' Nk?"

Looking through the window past a small croud I see the familiar boy going insane on the piano as if it were a fine woman.

I walk away but I can't help but acknowledge the matter again.

This time a little louder to a woman who glanced at me as the new face in the croud.

"Hahaha!-kid's better than I am!"

Walking off I can't help but be intrigued.

[I love Tom Waits. The other day I was gonna make a thread called the heart of Saturday night.]

Tiberius Hawke wrote:[I love Tom Waits. The other day I was gonna make a thread called the heart of Saturday night.]

[Great minds think alike it would seem.]

[Indeed they do, sir. I heartily enjoy your posts - musically refined is always good. (Music Nazi here unfortunately)]

[Small world, ain' it? I never knew of Tom Waits, but that's just because I don't often listen to soley piano music even if I do listen to more of it than the average fellow. (Music nazi here as well.)]

[Thank you, kind sir. I like sharing my tastes even indirectly as I do. I'm glad you enjoy them. A fellow admin on FB introduced me to him. Satoshi, I've grown to love his first three, especially his third, but I'm still exploring. It's good stuff. Lately I've been listening to mostly folk and other 60s rock but I enjoy a variety.]

[Tom Waits' first three albums? It's good. Some of his later, more agressive stuff is fantastic though. Namely "Fillipino Box Spring Hog" and his newest, "Hell Broke Luce" (Interesting story behind that too). I noticed you posted Brian Eno a while ago too - good job.]

[Suppose I should jump in here.]

Stepping off the bus, Hawke surveys the area around him. He was in a fairly small street in the city, and had no idea where he was.

This was a hobby of his; stepping onto a random bus and falling asleep. The first time he did it wasn't exactly on purpose, but he did it intentionally nowadays. the thrill of having absolutely no idea where you are and trying to find your way home was exhilarating for Hawke, and rarely went wrong. He always brought enough money for a taxi home if he got *too* lost.

He begins to walk down the street, whistling a favorite song of his: "Looking For The Heart of Saturday Night" by Tom Waits, and blocking out the world around him for a while. As he began walking, he started looking and listening for landmarks around him, and saw a small shop that presumably sold antiques. He began to walk towards it, when the door opened and a young man stepped out.

Amazingly, they were whistling the exact same part of the song. Mind blowingly, Hawke called out to the new face.

"Hey! Hey! I think we're the only two in the world who would still possibly know who Tom Waits is, god rest his soul, and we're whistling the same song! How crazy is that?!"

As he hobbles toward Nicholas, he also sees Satoshi coming in the opposite direction.

Small world, huh?

[ I'll definitely check those out. Gotta finish Bone Machine first. Mr. Eno....I love his ambient music a lot as well as his production.]

Nicholas stops and regards the approaching figure with interest. He smiles, a rare sight for anyone to see, especially on their first meet. Nicholas was usually tense around new people but he approached the young man with gaiety in his step.

"Ah. Indeed, it would seem. What an interesting coincidence. My father introduced me to him as he was one of his biggest influences as a musician. I'm proud I can say the same. The man was a genius."

Nicholas looks off distantly and coughs, fiddling his hands.

"I apologize for my rudeness, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Nicholas. Nicholas Harrison - Dazai. And you are, sir?

Actually I was kind of leaving.

[I only wanted to establish that Nick intrigues Satoshi. Driving him to want to meet up in the future.]

"Hi there, I'm Tiberius Hawke."

He reaches over and grabs the retreating Satoshi.

"And this is the lovely Satoshi Veach" he says with a smile.

"I discovered Waits through my father too, he's a bit of a music nut."

Satoshi Veach wrote:Actually I was kind of leaving.

[I only wanted to establish that Nick intrigues Satoshi. Driving him to want to meet up in the future.]

Balls.

"Pleased to meet you, Tiberius....what an odd name? I reckon you aren't from Japan originally?"

Nicholas eyes the other young man leaving the scene.

[Dagnabit-dammit-now you're just making me feel bad! XD]

"Eh..charmed."

Recovering from the sudden pull reminding me of Cook's 'mega death ear pull of doom' I am a little surprised to be dragged into a random conversation about some old dude I've never heard of by Tiberius who just happened to go all Phantom of the Opera/Zuul-Motherfucker on me and randomly appear in the area by mine that I've never even been in before.

I pull my shoulder from Hawke's grasp and fix my hoodie before reaching out my hand.

"I'm friends with Chika but I don't think I've officially met you."

I grin and gesture toward the tall figure with my head from the flick of my neck as I speak once more.

"Allow me to introduce myself in a better way than Hawke here gave me."

"Satoshi Veach: senior class. You may call me whatever you please."

Nicholas looks at Satoshi with penetrating yet impenetrable eyes and shakes his hand.

"Chika?"

He frowns and scratches his head.

"Good for her. She needs an outside influence, someone other than me. I hope she is treating you well. My name is Nicholas. Freshmen year. Pleasure."

I shake his hand with one shake and firm grip while looking back into his eyes.

Not studying his personality but more looking at just Nick's eyes.

I've seen that gaze before...

"She has a tendency to be a little volcanically active, if you know what I mean, but nothing that could make me lose any respect for her with. She's a good person."

I myself don't know that Tiberius just met Nick, like, two seconds ago and was just magnetized in.

"So, how do you two know each other?"

"We just met over a mutual whistling of a mutually appreciated music artist."

Nicholas sighs and looks up toward the stars.

"I understand what you mean completely."

Nicholas's relaxed demeanor allows him some lip leverage so he can speak a bit more than usual through he still regards this conversation in the way of him being like an astral projection to it. Detached. Hidden by numerous walls and locks. His constantly involuntary shifts of expression and eye and body movement make him almost impossible to read, something his sister could only truly do, and an air of restlessness and constant doubt.

"How now, my hearts! Have you never seen the picture of we three?"
So I managed to quote Shakespeare in day to day life. Well done me.
Hawke lets out a dry laugh.
"He has a good taste in music. It seems those with a taste for music are naturally drawn to each other, no? Veach here is musically gifted. I say gifted. He's pretty damn amazing with the drums."
"And no, I'm not from Japan. England, actually. Used to live with my dad: Tiberius Hawke senior."

Hawke studies Nicholas, he seems to be quite shy, but quite a deep personality. He's incredibly nervous, that much is obvious. Maybe I should back off?

Ahh, Shakespear?...Interesting...

I feel just a little embarrassed from Tiberius's compliment but for once I accept it...

..in order to work with it to provide a bit of fun.

"Ah, I may be alright at arranging and altering music but-"

TASTE EDGAR ALLEN 'POW!'

"-I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat."

I grin a little while continuing on.

"Never could coin good lyric vocabulary if I ever really tried much."

I try to look into Nick's eyes but they are just as lifeless as my own on normal occasion.

Silently I just give up and wait until I may bring some life from him.

"Ah, I was born in England as was my father and sister. Interesting. England is like the mother of Jesus, touched by some hidden force to give birth to miracles....that is, of the musical art."

Nicholas stares at Satoshi with a combination of looking generally uninterested or generally not there.

"Yes.....music is an illusion that makes up for all the others..."

"It certainly gave birth to one 17 years ago!" Hawke says with a dry chuckle. "In all seriousness, my Dad was... Influential in the music of today. So, through hypothesizing you stated that England produces musical geniuses... And I privided evidence. Ergo, it must be true!" Hawke says with a laugh.

I begin to quietly sing a song I really like since this conversation has reminded me of it.

Capsize by DELS. Also the only British rap song I know since I'm too lazy to bother looking up any more.

Not my style of finding music.

*E*"Times-they are-so tre-turous-we need to stick together
Now-the knights-are clo-sing in-we need to stick together
Where-is the heart'n'soul-they need to come together
When-the youths-are so damn cold-we need to stick together"

I even go as far as to quietly hum that cluster of strange noises afterward.

(Put it short, you guys pretty much just lost me in my own mind on my own.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlEuT2LYPho

I don't know who your father is...so that evidence is void on my part for now. The only geniuses I know of are Dylan, Drake, Waits and Mendelssohn. Musical ones.